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This issue is once again great, but I have a couple of problems that I’ll address. It picks up right where we left off…more or less, since we actually start with a look at another possible death scenario for Bruce, care of the stuff Scarecrow put in his system. And again, is this something that happened in another book that I didn’t read, something that’s going to happen in Eternal, or just an off-panel event we never actually see? Regardless, the point is that, while the scenario is different in each of these visions, one thing that’s the same is the sound of cold, mocking laughter, coming from the city, asking Batman who or what he thought he was…Gosh, I wonder why you hear THAT, Bruce?

Anyway, snap back to reality, and Superman is still pummeling on Batman’s armoured suit, his ‘Super-buster’, if you will. Of course, seeing as how Batman can be INCREDIBLY paranoid, the suit’s armed with weapons meant specifically to take down Superman, with knuckles emitting red sunlight, and plasma shields meant to stop both heat vision and freeze breath. Unfortunately, he kinda failed to take into account that, because this is a suit meant to take on Superman, who generally has limits to what he’ll do, the best it can do against a Superman hell-bent on killing Bats is slow him down. So yeah, the suit gets trashed, but thankfully, Batman’s got one last trick up his sleeve: A gum-like substance laced with Kryptonite that he spits INTO HIS EYE. This seems to finally put Superman down long enough to get him and the rest of the League to A.R.G.U.S. for treating, but they’ll be out for nearly a week, meaning Joker is clearly planning something so big that Bruce would normally be forced to call on the team for help. And I suppose I should point out what bullshit it is that Batman managed to walk away with no lasting damage from fighting the Justice League, Superman in particular, but at least it wasn’t technically a victory. I’m sure that if the fight had continued, Superman probably would’ve killed Bruce. Also, God knows the ‘Super-buster’ (and yes, I’m going to continue to call it that) was probably worth a TON, and the chances of building another just like it aren’t great, so if something like this ever comes up again, Bruce is screwed.

After meeting up with Alfred and Julia, both of whom make it clear that they aren’t leaving Bruce to deal with this alone, Batman deduces that Joker must’ve gotten at the League when they were at a charity for the Gotham Children’s Hospital a month earlier, and that whatever he used was so slow and subtle working that none of them noticed until it was too late…and I kinda have to scratch my head at this point. No, not for the fact that the Joker venom was used on the Justice League, since we learn that different variations were used on each, and I can see how someone with enough knowledge of each member could pull this off. However, how could Joker know all of this? The only way he could pull it off is if he had access to the same information as Batman, but that would require hacking the cave computers, which would need knowing where to find them, which would then require knowing who Batman is, and we’ve already established that Joker doesn’t want to know who Batman is.

Eventually, Batman decides to check out Joker’s cell back at the ruined Arkham Asylum. Mr. Border, who’s been working at Arkham since Batman Annual #2 and has popped up here and there in story, shows up, saying that the patients at Arkham Manor are scared of Joker, and that he came to check the area out. Batman tells him he should really get back to his patients, at which point Border explains that, since arriving in Gotham, all he’s ever wanted was to help the Arkham inmates, the people of Gotham, and Batman most of all, but that none of them saw a helping hand…just as the door to Joker’s cell locks on Batman, and the cell starts to fill with gas. Turns out, Mr. Border is really more like Mr. Bourder, an obsolete word for ‘Jester’…and all I could hear while reading this for the first time was this little tune…

Yep, Border’s really Joker in disguise, using make-up, muscle relaxers, and even sporting a new face (Thank God). We see that Joker has infected most of the city as Batman is trapped in the cell, and that, as alluded to before, Joker didn’t exactly take the ending of Death of the Family all that well, and is now out to END Batman. And it’d be great dialogue…if it wasn’t more or less word for word what Scott Snyder said in an interview while explaining Joker’s motivations this story arc. Seriously, Scott, I love ya and all, but you REALLY shouldn’t be doing this. And I’m not the only person to notice, either. But yeah, Joker says that when Batman wakes up, he’ll find the whole city laughing at him, pulls out a BANG flag gun, shoots, and end of Part 2 of Endgame.

I don’t want anyone to think I didn’t enjoy this issue from my nitpicking, because I did, A LOT. I’m just pointing out that a few things either didn’t add up well, or have yet to, but it’s still early in the story, so who knows, maybe it’ll iron itself out later. I will say that the best part of this issue was the reveal that Border was really The Joker. Now, I’d seen a new shot of what Joker was supposed to look like online, particularly in his recent haircut, so when I saw Border in this issue and saw his hair, there was a split second where I thought to myself “…Wait a minute…”, but I didn’t really believe it, since I didn’t think it was possible…Yeah, turns out, VERY MUCH SO. And I gotta wonder, was Border ALWAYS supposed to be Joker in disguise? How long has Snyder been planning this? Were there clues I missed along the way? I can see him popping pills in Batman #34, which were probably those muscle relaxants he mentioned, and re-reading that scene knowing what I know now makes it absolutely CHILLING. And frankly, I seem to recall Joker once saying “How do you keep a secret from the World’s Greatest Detective? You stick it right in front of him, right under his long pointy nose, and wait.”

Speaking of, I think I speak for most when I say that I’m glad to see that Joker has a face again. Having him not have a face FOREVER just wouldn’t have worked. I’m curious as to how and when he got it, though. Clearly, he knows a REALLY good plastic surgeon…though I wonder how come this new face is also bleached white. But whatever, point is, despite some hiccups along the way, Endgame has proven to be really good, and I can’t wait to see what that insane, demented, side-show freak pulls out next…But enough about Scott Snyder, I wonder what Joker has planned? XD

…You saw the title. These are my 5 Favourite Quotes of The Joker. Keep in mind, these aren’t in any specific order, and come from many different interpretations of the character, including the comics, the TV shows, the movies, and the video games, which inevitably means this includes spoilers for anything they come from. So, let’s not wait any longer and send in the clowns with the first up to bat (no pun intended)…

This is the scene where Joker reveals exactly what he did to Robin, in horrific detail, via a home movie style video. But the great quote for me is what comes near the end of it, when he finally presses one of the last buttons Batman has…

“You would’ve been proud to see him so strong – but all too soon, the serums and the shocks took their toll…and the dear lad began to share such secrets with me. Secrets that are mine alone to know… Bruce. It’s true, Batsy! I know everything. And kinda like the kid who peeks at his Christmas presents, I must admit, it’s sadly anti-climactic. Behind all the sturm and batarang, you’re just a little boy in a playsuit, crying for mommy and daddy! It’d be funny if it weren’t so pathetic…Oh, what the heck, I’ll laugh anyway! HA HA HA HA HA HAA!”

This quote comes from when Joker has Commissioner Gordon held captive on a ride with photos of Barbara Gordon displayed from when she was shot and stripped naked, all just to try to break the Commish, and…Well, I’m gonna let Troy Baker field this one.

#3 – “It’s not even breakfast” from Batman: Arkham City

In the climax of Arkham City…Well, Joker will explain in a bit, but he’s done a shit-ton of horrible stuff. But what caps it all off is this one exchange between him and Batman over the cure for Joker’s fatal ailment, where they pretty much spell out the nature of their encounters…

“Quick, the cure! What are you waiting for? Come on! I killed your girlfriend, poisoned Gotham, and hell, it’s not even breakfast! But so what? We all know you’ll save me.”“…Every decision you’ve ever made ends in death and misery. People die. I stop you…You’ll just break out and do it again.”“Heheheh…Think of it as a running gag!”

…Because how could I not include this? The thing is, you gotta figure this quote plus the completely contradictory quote later on indicates one of two things: Either The Joker is completely insane and doesn’t remember how he got his scars, referencing back to The Killing Joke and how he remembered his origins slightly different from day-to-day, or he’s a liar and his explanations are mere parody at such simplistic reasons for what he does.

“Do you wanna know how I got these scars? My father was a drinker…and a fiend. And one night, he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn’t like that. Not…one…bit. So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. He turns to me, and he says, ‘Why so serious?’ He comes at me with the knife — ‘Why so serious?!’ Sticks the blade in my mouth — ‘Let’s put a smile on that face!’ And… why so serious?”

#5 – “April fools!” from Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth

…Yeah, I kinda neglected to do this last week, and you’ll understand why when we get to it. Also, it ended up working out pretty well, since I bought something yesterday, and received a little something that I paid for a week ago and was expecting to receive at Harbour Con, but was ready for me a couple of days early. So, let’s start with what I bought last week, Talon #10.

The reason why I didn’t talk about this is because I wasn’t really all that inspired to talk about it. Maybe it was just kinda underwhelming, maybe it was because I had other stuff to talk about, or maybe I’m just used to doing bunches of comics all at once nowadays. Regardless, not much really happened. Calvin Rose got into a fight with one of Bane‘s goons, got cornered by a whole whack of them, but then was saved by Casey Washington’s buddies, which led into a much bigger fight on the horizon with Bane himself. The only thing of real relevance was that Casey managed to get herself free, and I was kinda expecting she would anyway. I will say that I DO feel delighted to know I correctly assumed the lead woman in this story, who is not a superhero, would be able to take care of herself just fine when kept in the Court of Owls‘ headquarters. 🙂

Adjectiveless X-Men #3 had a bit of a delightful mislead: Rather than the box with the ticking timer being a bomb, it instead is an override device that pretty much sets the X-Mansion against Kitty Pryde and the students, though they seem to be able to get out of danger just fine thanks to Bling (Hey, I’m finally learning people’s names! ^_^ ). Meanwhile, the rest of the team go with Sublime and track Arkea to a hospital. It seems she’s been busy with the patients, enslaving their minds, but Psylocke holds her at…erm, blade-point, while she’s in Karima’s body. She seems hesitant to go through with taking her down, though, but Karima manages to regain control just long enough to take Psylocke’s blade and damage herself enough to seemingly force Arkea out, though she leaves herself in critical condition. Overall, another great issue of a series that is definitely my favourite Marvel book thus far, with some awesome moments with Jubilee and her kid, and I honestly kinda hope Karima recovers well enough that she joins the team. Just seems like the logical step to make given how much time they used to establish just how much she means to the X-Men.

So when I learned that Batman Annual #2 was gonna be a tie-in to Zero Year, and then saw the preview pages showing him walking into Arkham Asylum in the costume to be locked away, I naturally was like “WTF?! They locked him up?!”. However, it seems Scott Snyder was kinda trolling us with those first few pages, as Batman’s actually there to test the new security systems. So how does this tie-in to Zero Year? Well apparently, while looking through files at the Asylum, he attracted some unwanted attention by a woman staying there who can walk through walls, referred to as the Anchoress. Essentially, she’s there because she actually WANTS treatment, but over the years, less attention was given to her as Batman started sending additional villains there. She breaks out when she finds out he’s present and nearly traps him in an inescapable prison of his own mind, but thanks to some help from a new guy working at the Asylum, he manages to stop her and return her to her cell, all the while the new guy arranges for the Anchoress’ treatment to be restored. Overall, a nice read, and much better than the last Batman Annual.

Y’know, there’s something to be said about a cover done like this for a book where major change happens. lol

Fearless Defenders #7 promised major change to the status quo, and it has. As you’ll recall, last time on Fearless Defenders, fan favourite Annabelle Riggs died to stop Valkyrie’s rampage as the Maiden of Rage. Well, good news to fans of the character, she’s alive again!…Sorta. I’ll admit, I’m a little confused, but long story short, Valkyrie goes to Valhalla where she finds Clea and asks her to resurrect Annabelle. Clea says it can only be done with a sacrifice of some sort, though it appears to work just fine, and they all return to Misty Knight‘s safe house, Valkyrie stating that Clea would be safer with the Defenders. However, upon arriving, only Clea and Annabelle are present, until Annabelle turns into Valkyrie, Clea stating that the two will need time to get used to some changes. I read that and was like “…Wait, WHA???” over and over for a good fifteen minutes. As near as I can tell, Annabelle’s spirit has been bonded to Valkyrie’s, and they essentially are now, as SongbirdDiamond on Twitter referred to them, the Superior Valkyrie…Except, y’know, not stupid. lol Either way, colour me intrigued.

The End Is Here…

And now, the big one: Batman Incorporated #13, the end of Grant Morrison‘s run on Batman, and……..I feel kinda underwhelmed. Now, before ANYONE calls me out on this, I am NOT saying this is a bad comic by ANY stretch of the imagination. However, I did see a couple of things coming from a mile away, namely that the mystery woman who kidnapped Jason Todd was Kathy Kane, the original Batwoman, and that Talia was going to die, killed by a bullet to the skull by Kathy. All of this is being shown to us as Bruce narrates the events to Commissioner Gordon at the GCPD, following his arrest that we saw in Batman Incorporated #1 of the New 52. He tries to be a bit vague, though, as to keep Jim from knowing that he and Batman are one and the same. However, some inner monologue boxes from Gordon suggests that he’s always had a hunch that they are but keeps it to himself, mainly because it doesn’t really matter to him who Batman really is. Then we learn that some woman (most likely Kathy) has bailed Bruce out and gotten the charges against him dropped. All the while Bruce was contemplating shutting Batman Inc. down, but a returning Alfred gives him reason to stick around: Damian and Talia’s graves, both dug up and their bodies missing. And as this goes on, Ra’s al Ghul has retaken control of the admittedly battered League of Assassins and is now breeding an army of Damian clones.

…The Game Is Over…

So why do I feel underwhelmed by this issue? Well, because this is the LAST issue of Grant Morrison’s run, and despite it ending where it began, with Bruce and Talia and Damian, I’m left with so many frakking questions! How did Kathy Kane bail Bruce Wayne out of all his charges and lift the ban on the Bat Symbol? What’s Jason Todd’s plans now that it’s been revealed he was actually working for Talia but betrayed her? What happened to Talia and Damian’s bodies at the end? If the Fatherless was the actual individual to become Batman 666, why are we getting a ‘What If?’ mini-series about how Damian becomes Batman 666? With so many Damian clones being created, does that make it possible for the real one to come back someday? Is the British Government really going to resurrect Knight somehow? What’s the status of Batman Incorporated as a group now that the book is cancelled? Is there any chance they’ll let Chris Burnham do a Batman of Japan series? And most important of all, WHO’S GONNA FEED BATCOW?!?!

…No More Pretending…No More…! NO MORE!

Now, of course, I expect that all these things will be answered soon enough. However, if Grant Morrison was going to create so many major changes to the status quo, you’d think he’d wanna give the resolution himself, unless of course it turns out he wanted to but for whatever reason he couldn’t. Either way, it leaves a lot unresolved for his LONG run with Batman. Still, as I said before, it ended where it began, and that’s oftentimes the best place for a massive story-line to end.

This city’s afraid of me. I’ve seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood. And when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout “Save us!”… and I’ll look down and whisper “No.”

So, I finally rectified a mistake I’d made for quite some time and bought Watchmen on DVD. And if you’re wondering what took me so long, the answer is simple: I honestly thought I already had it on DVD somewhere. lol Yeah, not sure why I thought that, but whatevs. I have it now. Of course, I’ve already seen it at least a couple of times, and it still remains a great flick. And yeah, I know they made it without the slimey squid, but I don’t really think that’s anywhere near as low as the standards of the 90’s Kid. 😛

Six Winds Blow As OneThey Will Turn The TideWe Are Marching OnStanding Side By SideAnd We’ll Carry OnUntil All The Fire Has GoneBlown Away, Away To Lands Beyond

And finally, my friend Nikki-Lee Dyckow drew this picture of The Hexagon, my superhero team (which, I promise, I will get back to eventually). I LOVE this so much, and she even made some improvements, like giving Strix boots that more resemble an owl’s talons, and The Bard a more medieval look…She also gave her slightly bigger boobs, which is a little odd, and was a little disturbing to N. Harmonik, but at least it provided a good laugh from me while explaining it to her. 😀

So that’s it for this week. Next week, we check in with The Movement and their attack on a police headquarters, and venture back to the world known as Earth 2. Ja né!

For many years, I had followed the tales of some of my favourite superheroes (in particular, Batman and Superman) through their movies and cartoon shows, but I had very rarely read the comics. I had some knowledge of what was going on through wikis, and then later on through an internet review show called Atop The Fourth Wall. Well, after watching AT4W for a few years, I decided in 2011 that I was finally going to start buying comics, but I wasn’t sure where to get started. That’s when AT4W host Linkara, AKA Lewis Lovhaug, started a little series called That’s All I’m Saying, where he was looking over the comics that he bought every week, mostly DC stuff. The main reason for it is because DC had just relaunched their titles in September of that year with the New 52, essentially a massive reboot of the DC Universe, and he wanted to share his thoughts on each comic for people who were new to comics or wanted some thoughts on these new books. From that, I got a good idea of what comics I wanted to buy…or so I thought, as two of the three comics I bought and collected originally, I now despise. LOL But there was one comic I bought back in the beginning of the New 52 that I’ve stuck with ever since.

Hello, and welcome to a short series here on Jyger’s Rant. I’m going to discuss what is, in my opinion, one of the best damned books in the New 52: Scott Snyder‘s Batman.

So, let’s start off by laying out a few ground rules for this: I’m not discussing Scott Snyder’s work on Batman prior to the launch of the DCnU. This is mainly because I unfortunately haven’t read it all yet, and I don’t wanna leave anything out. I will say that The Black Mirror is supposed to be really good, though, and I have read Gates of Gotham and it really helps build the bridge to the current Batman book (People who have read the book will get that joke, others will just nod their heads and go along with it). Also, I’m not discussing Death of the Family and anything beyond it, since I’ve already covered it in What I Bought Today. No, this series will focus primarily on the Court of Owls/Night of the Owls story arcs, and specifically on the books in this one series to take place in them, though I will try to make small references to what was happening in the tie-in books. So with that in mind, let’s kick off with Batman #1.

We open to…some REALLY bad designs for some of Batman’s rogues gallery. Seriously, this is what they look like in this issue.

Oh hai, Professor Pyg! How is your sex life? XD

I mean, I love Greg Capullo‘s artwork, but I have no idea what he was thinking with some of these. Like, see that guy with the green question mark mohawk? That’s Riddler…SERIOUSLY. lol Anyway, Batman fights them as they try to break out of Arkham Asylum, but there’s simply too many of them. Then, all of a sudden, Joker shows up…and starts helping him beat the snot out of the Arkham inmates. Major WTF moment, but I’ll spoil it for you now: It’s Dick Grayson. He’s wearing some kind of mask that allows him to imitate ANYONE, that I believe he actually makes use of later on in his own book. Apparently, Bruce sent him to hide out in Arkham Asylum for a little while because he needed someone on the inside to monitor things, and apparently there was a guard there who was going crooked, and he had opened the gates to let the villains out when Batman came for him.

Later, Bruce arrives at the manor for a gala, which Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne are all attending. Apparently he’s going to be investing heavily in Gotham City‘s future, fixing up the city’s architecture and improving the public transit system. He also meets up with Vicki Vale (AKA Lois Lane in Gotham) and Lincoln March, who is running for Mayor and is VERY interested in Bruce’s plans for the future. However, Bruce is a little distracted by his new contact lens’ lip-reader showing Comissioner Gordon having a talk on the phone about a horrific stabbing incident, and decides he needs to go out to get some air.

Now THIS is GREAT artwork. 😀

Arriving at the scene of the crime, Batman meets with Harvey Bullock to discuss what happened. The John Doe is pinned to the wall by multiple throwing knives and was left to bleed to death. Looking over the crime scene, Batman finds skin tissue under the victim’s fingernails and a message written in paint thinner. Using Bullock’s cigar, Batman lights the message up to reveal it says “Bruce Wayne will DIE tomorrow”. The two realise that the victim knew he was going to be murdered and left the message ahead of time, Bullock feeling that only someone deep in Bruce Wayne’s inner circle would be able to get to him. As if on cue, Batman gets a call from Alfred, who has finished analysing the DNA from the skin tissue and found a single, perfect match: Dick Grayson.

Batman #2 picks up with Bruce Wayne plummeting to his apparent death after being thrown out the window of the top floor of Wayne Tower…And then cut back to twenty-four hours earlier, where Batman’s chasing a group of helicopter-borne statue thieves on the Batpod. Batman races ahead and gets the Batpod on top of a train, and, in a move that just proves how badass Batman is, he races the bike off the train and crashes into the chopper’s wind-shield…and all while managing to get back to the Batcave in time with Gordon’s arrival at the Gotham City Morgue.

Don’t play chicken with the Goddamn Batman. >:)

Using a scanner he rigged to the morgue’s security camera, Batman’s able to create a holographic projection in the Batcave to investigate the John Doe from before. He and the Comissioner deduce that this man was some sort of trainer, and they also discover the mark of an Athenian Owl on his right wisdom tooth. Between this and the knives baring owl emblems, Gordon is reminded of a nursery rhyme about the Court of Owls, an underground organization said to be running Gotham from behind the shadows. Batman IMMEDIATELY rules this out as a possibility, saying they’re just a legend but not being too open with why he believes that so vehemently.

Batman decides to cut the conversation short when Nightwing arrives, who makes a snarky comment about how Bruce will likely miss the old vent leading into the morgue. Dick recognises the man and tells Bruce that he’d been at the West Side Promenade’s groundbreaking. He’d been accosting Dick and gripped his arm, actually scratching him a bit while ranting that “They’re real” and that “They’re sending him for you…all of you”. Nightwing offers to show Batman the scratches, but as it turns out Bruce had already viewed the surveillance footage from the groundbreaking and just wanted to hear it from Dick, as well as get him caught up on what was going on.

I get a snicker every time I read that. XD

That night, Bruce has an appointment at Wayne Tower with Lincoln March. During it, Lincoln admits that he sees an ally and friend in Bruce, as they both lost their parents to tragedies in their youth, and that Gotham saved them. However, it seems that something dark has returned to Gotham, but before Lincoln can elaborate further, a man in a black owl costume attacks them with knives. Lincoln is taken out of the fight quickly, leaving Bruce to himself as he tries to save himself while also holding back, as he can’t give hints that he’s Batman. However, even after applying over a hundred pounds of pressure to his assailant’s windpipe, he can’t seem to knock him out. Instead, the assailant tosses him around like a rag-doll before telling Bruce that “The Court of Owls has sentenced you to die”.

Bruce is then kicked out the window, realising that by the time he reaches the gargoyles below, he will have fallen so fast that his arms would simply rip off if he grabbed for them. His attacker leaps out after him to make sure he finishes him off, but he’s made a terrible error: There was a hidden, thirteenth gargoyle installed by Henry Wayne to greet visitors to Gotham by air, far above the lower ones. Bruce manages to grab ahold of it while his would-be assassin falls to his apparent death below. Bruce feels confident this assassin was just someone looking to use Gotham’s legends against him and is sure that there is no Court of Owls, but little does he know that after the body is placed in an EMT to be taken to the morgue, the Talon of the Court of Owls awakens and kills the driver.

These comics are AWESOME. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo set the foundations of the story and the mystery of the Court brilliantly, and the horror tone is done so not to scare you away, but rather to scare you into wanting to know more. I hadn’t known that Scott Snyder was more well known for his work with horror-themed comics, but I learned pretty quick just how expertly he could mix that tone into a superhero/detective story like this. But trust me, much like myself back when I started collecting these, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Check in next time when I look at Batman #3 & 4, as Batman begins to uncover the horrible truths about the Talon, as well as Gotham’s past. Ja né!

Oh look, it’s Wednesday again! That means it’s time to take a look at…

We got three comics that are leading into the conclusion of Death of the Family, so let’s start off with Batman #16.

I love this cover so much. It’s like they were saying to themselves “Hmm, how can we make that scene from The Dark Knight Returns where he’s riding that horse into battle any more badass?” and then some wonderful, brilliant man said “Well why don’t we just light it on fire?” XD

Lemme just give a hint to people that plan to wait until the trade comes out to buy Death of the Family: Whenever you think you know what the Joker is planning, slap yourself in the face and say “No, you don’t”. I almost feel like Scott Snyder is trolling me in that sense sometimes. Now, at this point, the Joker’s master plan appears to be slowly but surely unveiling itself for what it truly is, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m actually way off on what the end result of this story is. If I have one complaint about this book, though, it’s that there’s a short montage of sorts where Batman fights through several of his rogues gallery to get to the Joker in Arkham Asylum, but he makes each fight quick and relatively easy looking. And these aren’t second stringers either. Frigging Mr. Freeze is in there. It just seems too easy for him, the way he breezes past them. Also, horse lovers might not exactly like this book all that much, since there are two horse fatalities in it. Still, this comic continues to keep me on the edge of my seat, and I’m somewhat mortified by something that happens at the very end, and we’ll get to that later.

Madness? THIS IS GOTHAM!!! 😛

Batman & Robin #16 was…well, here’s the thing. I felt none of the emotional tension they were trying to convey in this story whatsoever as Robin was fighting ‘Batman’ because I frigging KNEW that wasn’t really Batman. I’m sorry, but I could just smell the fake-out coming from the instant I was done reading last month’s issue. That was the inherent problem with this particular tie-in: I knew the real Batman couldn’t really be there. It’s also part of the problem with this being a Batman & Robin book instead of a Robin book: Batman HAD to be there. Seriously, this book needs to drop Batman as a main protagonist and just be a Robin comic. Heck, it technically already is, just not in name.

Okay, how freaky would THIS be: If Gail Simone did herself up to look like this for Twitter? XD

Batgirl #16 is wonderful and creepy, as the whole series has been. I’m gonna miss Gail Simone…for the two months she’s off. lol Long story short for this issue, Joker tries to wed Batgirl, James Gordon Jr. gets involved, massive fight breaks out, ends with a destroyed church…Well THAT’S not gonna go over well. To those who were actually wondering if they were going to pull this, no. Batgirl does NOT get married to Joker. Duh. However, we get a scare at the very end that’s quite similar to what we see at the end of Batman and Batman & Robin, which means it’s finally time to talk about this.

Joker has a dinner tray. Well, I think it’s one dinner platter, it looks a little different in each book. I’m going to assume either they’re different platters or nobody kept it clear what it was supposed to look like. Anyway, point is he has a platter, and the contents are covered up. We don’t know what’s in it for certain. However, I do recall Batman #14 wherein the Joker said he kidnapped Alfred to prepare for some type of celebration…and the platter has what appears to be blood on it in Batgirl #16…If that platter has what I think it has inside, I think I’m gonna be sick. :O

…So yeah, that was all for this week. Check in next week when the Joker continues to give us nightmare fuel in Nightwing #16. And I think come this time next month, I’m gonna want a few barf bags ready. Ja né.